I have neither iPad 1 or 2 .... which one do I get? (HELP!)

[Zelnaga]

I always wanted an iPad and I was going to get an iPad 2 after seeing what was on offer. But then Apple drops a bomb shell and sheds £100 off current models ..... Im confused. I dont know which one I want.

Im only ever gonna use iPad for reading manga/comics, surfing web (mainly) and light gaming ... thats it.

I dont care for the camera, or lightness. For on the go - taking pictures, facetime, I have my iPhone 4 for that.

I know with the new A5 and graphics chip gaming is going to be a beast, but surely developers will keep in mind that there are still going to be millions of people still have iPad 1 and waiting on 3rd generation?

Then again 256MB ram is slightly small on the iPad 1 (how big is the RAM on 2?) also I do like the HDMI mirroring ..... argh! Not sure.

Then again is it a risk Im going to have to take? Im on a tight budget (as I have holidays etc ... to go on) and whether me paying an extra £100 is going to be worth the money with the task im using.

Argh! Someone help! Im 50/50!

 

[Chupa Chupa]

#2 of course. It's going to be relevant longer than #1. Just take a look at the original iPhone and how fast if fell off the radar when iOS 3 was launched and iOS 4 for sure.

 

[ucfgrad93]

I would always choose the most current model. It is more future proof that way.

 

[zhenya]

The (presumed) extra RAM on the iPad 2 will be worth that extra alone. The fact that it is considerably thinner and lighter won't hurt either though!

That said, I'm keeping my 1st gen!

 

[dirtysanchez96]

you should always get the newer model because it will have not only more features but hidden hardware that will come in handy in later updates.

 

[Annerz]

Definitley go for the 2.

 

[Calidude]

 

[Zelnaga]

Did anyone read what I put

I maybe future proofing but is future proofing going to matter with that I do here? I know how the Apple ecology works. If I skip 2nd gen Im on 3rd gen.

Thats what Im doing with my iPhone 4 right now, id be 6 - 8 - 10 when my 2 year contract runs out respectively.

I know about future proofing aswell. Just like how apps etc ... working well from 3G to 3GS to the 3GS to iPhone 4 now .... sure some apps wont run perfectly compared to the previous gen, but the main reason which I mentioned above is that previous gen ARE SUPPORTED.

I know it sounds like Ive settled on iPad 1, but I aint, I desperately want the latest tech and always did (iPhone .... consoles etc ....) but with the iPhone 4 i feel as if this would do .... I just want someone in my situation to give me an answer in my situation i have and the tasks Ill be doing with the iPad.

 

[zhenya]

I certainly answered your question. The 256MB of RAM on the iPad 1 is a major headache - even for anything but the most basic of web browsing, as with more than a few tabs open, Safari will close tabs and you'll have to re-load the page.

 

[Cha]

Are you willing to upgrade to a 3rd gen next year?

In the beginning, I am sure applications will work fine on the 1st gen and the second gen. But as development matures and middleware tools developed, the development community will focus more on the new hardware. Especially if more and more apps become more multimedia focused, you may experience some frustration with the 1st gen.

 

[flyingturtle]

I own an iPhone as well (iPhone 4) and I own an iPad 1.

Are you comfortable with upgrading next year?

If so, get a refurbished iPad 1 now, and then upgrade to the iPad 3 next year which should have much more substantial improvements like a possible Retina display, SD or LightPeek port, etc). These are worthwhile additions since you said that you mainly use your book as a reader for both books and comics. Transferring data for comics for large amounts can be slow, and PDF viewing will be a lot faster with a faster cheap.

The improvements from iPad 1 to 2 are nice, but for me, the camera is the biggest addition, but like you, I have my iPhone 4 for that.

If you are not planning to upgrade for awhile, like 2 or more years, then I'd recommend the iPad 2. Like I mentioned before, i read a lot of PDFs on my phone as well as iBooks, but iBookstore library is a bit slow when I load up my titles (but I have a lot) and reading PDFs isn't as fast as it would be on my Mac or PC desktop. I'm sure the iPad 2 would make this a lot faster.

So in short. Get iPad 1 refurb, sell it and upgrade to iPad 3 next year. Otherwise, if no plans to upgrade next year, then buy iPad 2 now. It's more future-proof against upcoming iPad apps in the next few years. The speed improvements are also a definite plus, even just for reading.